Thanks to the advocacy work of the California Apartment Association, a San Jose city committee declined to advance a rent control plan that would lower the annual allowable rent increase, raise occupancy limits, expand bureaucracy, and provide taxpayer-funded attorneys to tenants facing eviction.

The decision came Aug. 10, 2023, by the City of San Jose Housing and Community Development Commission (HCDC), which reviewed the proposed Rent Stabilization Program Strategic Plan. The comprehensive draft aimed to continually modify the city’s rent control ordinance over a three-year period.

Among the plan’s controversial proposals were:

  • Lowering the annual allowable rent increase from 5% to the rate of inflation or less
  • Raising occupancy limits and allowing overcrowding
  • Expanding the rent registry to require more data from rental owners.
  • Increasing staffing and bureaucracy, likely resulting in increased fees paid by housing providers.

CAA’s efforts in rallying rental housing providers to voice opposition to the proposed plan were key to the rejection by the HCDC.

Anil Babbar

“The commission should reject this extremely short-sighted plan,” Anil Babbar, CAA’s senior vice president of public affairs, told the committee. “Lowering the rent cap when significant seismic and environmental mandates are forthcoming, relaxing the occupancy standard to permit overcrowding, and funding eviction attorneys when the tenants are in need of rental assistance shows how out of touch this plan is with reality.”

Although this decision marks a victory for housing providers, the battle continues, as the San Jose Housing Department will soon present its recommendations to the City Council. Continued vigilance and active involvement among housing providers will be essential.

For further inquiries or to be included in outreach for future meetings on this issue, please contact Anil Babbar at ababbar@caanet.org.